Universal Plug and Play (UPnP®) is a set of communications network protocols promulgated by the UPnP Forum. The UPnP® architecture allows peer-to-peer networking of PCs, networked appliances, and wireless devices. It is a distributed, open architecture based on Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). UPnP® enables communication between any two devices under the command of any control device on a local area network (LAN).
One example of UPnP® device is an Internet Gateway Device (IGD) (referred to herein as a Residential Gateway (RG)) which may be used to connect various devices in a residential LAN to the internet using a service provider (SP) and also to each other. The RG may be embedded with a modem and a router or may comprise separate physical devices such as a bridge modem and external router. The RG may also include any number of connection bridges such as an Ethernet® switch, an 802.11 Access Point (AP), a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA®) bridge or other similar devices.
Some RGs may allow a roaming (portable, mobile) UPnP® client to receive traffic that is sent “home” so that mobile devices may benefit from services delivered to their home network despite the fact that the mobile device is not home. Existing methods for redirecting traffic (or re-broadcasting content) from the home have a number of limitations. For example, only one client can legitimately receive traffic. Also, all clients desiring this service would have to be present in the “home” at one point. Further, the traffic would need to traverse the home network (and be redirected/rebroadcast) in order to reach the roaming client. In addition, redirected traffic may be redirected to illegitimate sites (i.e., public venues such as sports bars).